The Honeymoon Registry: When Having Another Toaster Oven Just Won't Do

The Honeymoon Registry: When Having Another Toaster Oven Just Won't Do
By Janice Willingham

Because of the high costs involved in planning and having a wedding and not to mention a honeymoon, many couples are asking how can we ask for money to go towards our honeymoon without showing a total disregard for wedding etiquette? Additionally, many couples are already living together prior to getting married. For some, it may be a second marriage. As a result, the need for the usual household items as wedding gifts is not a need. The natural solution to the wedding gift giving dilemma is the popular and growing trend toward honeymoon registries.

The traditional way of gift giving has been to rely on the bridal registry. The honeymoon registry communicates to guests and well wishers where the couple would like to go on their honeymoon, the activities and extra amenities they would enjoy that would make their dream honeymoon a reality.

A honeymoon registry is much like a wedding registry. When you join a honeymoon registry, your chosen destination package is broken down into affordable pieces and listed just like a normal gift registry. What's so great and unique about the honeymoon registry is that it enables your wedding guests to purchase portions of your honeymoon. Yes, your guests can contribute toward your honeymoon, but in some cases giving a particular portion of the honeymoon--dinner at a nice restaurant, or a carriage ride, for example--is more meaningful.

There are three basic kinds of honeymoon registries:

*Registries that require you to book your travel through the travel agency offering the registry.

*Registries that allow you to book your travel either through the sponsoring travel agency (or other affiliated travel agencies), through the travel agency of your choice, or on your own. Usually these registries charge an extra fee or higher service charge if you choose not to book travel through the registry's parent travel agency.

*Registries that are not affiliated with any travel agencies, requiring you to make travel arrangements on your own or through a travel agency of your choice.

If a honeymoon registry sounds like the perfect solution for you, here is a quick guide to choosing, creating, and using one. Different registries offer various mixes of features and costs. Think about what is most important to you. Take a virtual tour of several different registries. Start by looking at a few examples of honeymoon registries. Look for professionalism. Does the site provide a thorough explanation of its services, including all fees and service charges? Does it explain who you can contact or what you can do if you run into problems? If the honeymoon registry is run by a travel agency, does the FAQ explain the company's policy for cancelled or delayed travel?

Consider contacting couples who have used the registry. You can find couples by looking up old honeymoon registries and doing a web search for their e-mail addresses. Or look for e-mail addresses associated with wedding home pages hosted by the registry service. Send a friendly e-mail explaining your situation and ask for advice; most couples will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Talk to someone from the registry service, either by phone or e-mail. If the registry service falls short on customer service when you're signing up, don't expect better service if a problem arises.

To create your honeymoon, you must first submit basic personal information such as your names, the date of the wedding, contact information, and so on. Then you create your registry, which is an itemized list of all your honeymoon expenses. Some registries charge a setup fee, which is usually between $100-$150; others charge nothing to the wedding couple, but charge wedding guests a service fee when they buy part of the honeymoon. Most honeymoon registry websites allow you to create your registry right away over the web. Other sites put you in touch with a representative who will assist you in creating your registry.

What can you list on your registry? If you can buy it, you can list it. Typical registries list transportation, lodging, activities, special amenities, and meals. Expensive items are usually broken down so guests can choose to pay only a portion of the item. For example, a honeymoon registry might list ten gifts of $100 each toward your $1,000 airfare expense.

Some honeymoon registries allow you to personalize your registry with a message to your guests and descriptions of the different parts of your honeymoon, perhaps even allowing you to upload pictures.

Once your registry is set up, you need to let your wedding guests know that it exists. Many registries will provide you with printed cards announcing the registry and its web address; you can either mail them with the wedding invitation or separately. Some registries will email your wedding guests if you provide their email addresses.

The more tactful approach is to let your guests know about your registry indirectly. Let your parents, close friends, or wedding party members know that you have a honeymoon registry; they can pass the word along to other guests and well wishers. You can also create a wedding web page with up-to-date information for guests, and include a link to your registry on that page and list the address of your wedding web page in your invitation without directly bringing up the issue of gifts.

Wedding guests can look up your registry by typing in your last name into a search box on the registry website. After reading what you want, they click on the item they want to purchase and pay for the items on the website. Most registries also allow guests to purchase items by phone.

The gift-giver usually receives a certificate that is either sent to the wedding couple or to the purchaser to deliver personally the couple. Some registries charge a fee to mail this certificate. Other registries notify the couple of the gift by e-mail. On any registry, you can track how many gifts you have received simply by logging into the registry.

It's important to note that most registries require guests to pay a service charge for the privilege of contributing to your honeymoon. The service charge is a percentage of the cost of the gift ranging from 3.5% to 15%. So if a guest wants to pay $100 toward your airfare and the honeymoon registry website imposes a 10% service charge, the guest will end up spending $110.

The wedding couple is ultimately responsible for paying for their honeymoon expenses which means any portion of the honeymoon that needs to be paid prior to the wedding will be at the wedding couple's expense. Some or all of those expenses could be purchased by your guests however; some of the honeymoon expenses are not completely covered by the registry. It's wise not to plan an extravagant honeymoon that you cannot pay for yourself.

Whatever money wedding guests contribute toward the honeymoon is placed in a holding account. The registry sends the couple a check (or electronically deposits the funds into their account) on a predetermined date, usually a week before the wedding. Even though the wedding guests paid for certain parts of the honeymoon, the couple can use the money for anything they want.

Janice Willingham is a travel enthusiast that likes exploring innovative ways to travel or in this case sharing information about the honeymoon registry option in wedding gifts. You can enjoy reading tips, articles and other information about travel at http://wealthpath.wordpress.com

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